I know I’ve made pithy, shade-throwing references to American superiorism over the past week-odd of blogging, but now that I’m heading back from Belfast, I feel almost obligated to unashamedly comment on the trouble that I will be departing from in a matter of hours and 3000 miles away from in a matter of weeks. I will gasp and brood and post Facebook statuses and sign a petition and gossip in hushed tones with my friends back in the US. I’ll feel a rush for standing up for the right thing, taking a stand, wagging a judgmental finger and ticking my tongue.
But, really, as I said previously, all there is that I can truly do is mourn the loss of so much human potential from centuries of segregation. I don’t blame any “side”– UVF, IRA, any alphabet gang, they’re just outcroppings of a core problem. They’re pawns to a bigger con. In the end, the British government has total responsibility for the safety, well-being, and prosperity of its people. If it seriously considered integration to be a remotely important goal, it could easily accomplish it. Tommy McKearney may have said the removal of the peace walls and forced integration would create absolute chaos, but this is a nation that implemented a national health care service and the most comprehensive network of security and surveillance cameras on the planet; they are well capable of keeping six counties in line. And although action may result in pain, inaction is resulting in strife. But, at the end of the day, there is simply two much power and profit for big business, big government, and big faith to gain from maintaining the leverage of sectarianism over the people of Ulster.
So, as unfortunate as it may seem and despite my best effort, I cannot untangle my inherent viewpoints from my experience of a history or place. But I don’t regret it and I don’t want to hide it because I know that my worldview stems from critical thinking and experience and not from any sort of dogma. I won’t bandy about, preaching it to the streets, but I’ll speak it to other individuals and post it on my own little blog world for my own amusement. And why shouldn’t I? I am an American after all.
I don’t think anyone can untangle themselves from their experiences – who you are colors what you see and how you perceive it. I just hope you use all of the crayons in the box – not just the black and white ones.
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